William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (born November 20, 1969) is an American football college coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Clemson. He took over the head coaching job at Clemson from Tommy Bowden mid way though the 2008 football season. As Clemson head coach, he makes over $3 million a year.[1]

Swinney was raised in Pelham, Alabama, and attended the University of Alabama, where he joined the Crimson Tide football program as a walk-onwide receiver in 1989. He earned a scholarship and lettered on three teams (1990–1992), including the Crimson Tide's 1992 National Championship team. During his time as an undergraduate at Alabama, Swinney was twice named an Academic All-SEC and SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll member.[2] He received his degree in commerce & business administration in 1993 as well as a master's degree in business administration from Alabama in 1995.

In December 1995, Swinney received his M.B.A from Alabama and became a full-time assistant coach for the Crimson Tide, in charge of wide receivers and tight ends.[3] He was fired with all of head coach Mike DuBose's staff in early 2001.[4]

Swinney sat out the 2001 season while receiving his contractual payments from Alabama. His former strength coach at Alabama, Rich Wingo, had become president of Birmingham-based AIG Baker Real Estate and offered him a job. From April 2001 through February 2003, he did not coach and instead worked for AIG Baker Real Estate on development projects in Alabama.[4]

In 2002, his former position coach at Alabama, Tommy Bowden, made Swinney an offer to become an assistant coach for the wide receivers at Clemson, and Swinney joined in 2003. He took over as Recruiting Coordinator from popular longtime coordinator Rick Stockstill. Swinney proved to be both an excellent wide receivers coach as well as recruiting coordinator, coaching ACC-leading receivers and being named one of the nation's top 25 recruiters in 2007 by Rivals.com.[4]

Swinney was named the interim head football coach on October 13, 2008, after previous head coach Tommy Bowden resigned six games into the 2008 season.[5] The Tigers had started the year ranked #9 in the preseason polls, but then went 3–3 (1–2 ACC) in their first six games.[6] Swinney was surprised by his promotion since he had been a real estate developer just a few years before. At the time he was informed of his promotion, he was working with the wide receivers on their upcoming game.[7]

With a reputation as a top-notch recruiter, Swinney was chosen over Clemson defensive coordinatorVic Koenning (former head coach of Wyoming), and associate head coach Brad Scott (former head coach of South Carolina).[8] Swinney's first actions as interim head coach were to fire offensive coordinator Rob Spence and introduce a new tradition, the "Tiger Walk", where all players and coaches walk through the parking lot outside Memorial Stadium about two hours before a game as they head inside for final game preparations.[9] On November 1, 2008, Swinney claimed his first victory as the Tigers' head coach by defeating Boston College, breaking Clemson's six-game losing streak against the Eagles. On November 29, 2008, Swinney coached Clemson to a 31–14 win over South Carolina in the annual rivalry game, after which Clemson became bowl eligible. After a vote of confidence from athletic director Terry Don Phillips, Swinney was formally named as Clemson's 27th head coach on December 1, 2008.

Swinney's recruiting reputation became evident when he produced five top-20 ESPN recruiting classes in a row, including top 10 classes in 2011 and 2012.[10] As a result, Clemson is one of only 10 schools to be ranked in the top 20 of recruiting five years in a row (along with LSU, Alabama, Texas, USC, Florida, Georgia, Florida State, Ohio State and Oklahoma), and Swinney is one of only five active head coaches to ever accomplish the feat, putting him on par with prestigious names such as Nick Saban, Les Miles, Bob Stoops, and Mark Richt.[10]

During the 2009 season, Swinney's first full season at the helm, Clemson was able to achieve several accomplishments. The 2009 team finished the season with a record of 9–5 (6-2 in ACC) to win the Atlantic Division title of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 2009 season included three marquee wins: a win over #8 Miami (FL) in overtime on the road, a 16-point win over Florida State at home, and a win over Kentucky 21–13 in the 2009 Music City Bowl. Swinney coached the Clemson Tigers to a #24 AP Top 25 final season ranking for the 2009 football season.[11]

In 2010, Swinney led Clemson to a 6–7 (4-4 in ACC) season. Of the 7 losses in the 2010 season, 6 were by less than 10 points and 5 were by 6 points or less. The season included close losses to Cam Newton and the eventual national champion Auburn Tigers (27-24 on the road in OT), and the eventual division champion Florida State Seminoles (16-13 on a 55-yard, time-expiring field goal on the road). Despite a disappointing 6-7 record, the 2010 team featured one of the nation's top defenses and the Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks award winner, Da'Quan Bowers.

In 2011, Swinney led the Tigers to an 10–3 record that included an ACC Championship, the Tigers' first since 1991. They earned a trip to the Orange Bowl, their first major-bowl appearance since the 1981 national championship season. During a pre-game ESPN interview prior to the 2012 Orange Bowl, Swinney said, "Hopefully when this thing is over, people are going to be talking about the Clemson defense."[12] The comment proved to be prescient as #15 Clemson would go on to lose to the #23 West Virginia Mountaineers, 70–33, conceding an all-time record number of points scored in a quarter (35), half (49) and game (70) in the 109-year history of bowl games.[13] Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele was fired after the game.[14]

Part of Swinney's success the past three years was the 2011 offensive coordinator hire of Chad Morris, who was originally seen as a risk as most of his coaching experience had been on the high school level. Morris brought in a fast-paced, up-tempo offense that shattered many Clemson offensive records.[15] Since then, Clemson's offense has averaged over 40 points a game and over 500 yards of total offense a game.[16]

Swinney was the 2011 winner of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, which was established to honor the NCAA Division 1 football coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The award is named for Bobby Dodd, longtime head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The award was established in 1976 to honor the values that Dodd exemplified.[17]

In 2012, Swinney led Clemson to its first 11-win season since the 1981 national championship year, capping the year off with an upset victory over the #8 LSU Tigers in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.[18] The Tigers finished the year at 11-2, ranked 9th in the Coaches Poll and 11th in the AP poll. Swinney was a finalist for the third time in his career for the Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year.[19]

In 2013, Swinney guided the Tigers to their third 10-win season in a row, the first time since 1989.[20] The highlight regular-season win came against #5 Georgia in the season opener. The Tigers won 38-35. Clemson's two regular season losses were to top 10 opponents, national champion Florida State and South Carolina. The 31-17 loss to the rival Gamecocks was a record fifth straight for the Tigers, the longest winning streak for South Carolina in the series.[21] The completion of the season marked 32 wins over three years for Swinney, the most ever in such a span in Clemson football history.[22] The Tigers received their second BCS bowl bid under Swinney with an invitation to play seventh-ranked Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl.[23] The Tigers defeated the Buckeyes 40-35 to give the Tigers' their third Orange Bowl win in their history and their first BCS bowl victory. The 2013 season marked the first time Clemson had back-to-back 11-win seasons. After the game, Swinney recalled the Tigers' lopsided loss two years before in the Orange Bowl and the team's journey since then. "Hey, listen: Two years ago we got our butts kicked on this field. And it has been a journey to get back. We're 22-4 since that night. And we are the first team from the state of South Carolina to ever win a BCS game," Swinney said.[24] The win was Swinney's fourth victory over a top ten opponent as a head coach. The Tigers finished the season ranked in the top 10 in both polls (#8 in AP, #7 in Coaches), the first such achievement for Swinney as head coach.

Following the season, Swinney agreed to eight-year, $27.15 million contract and guaranteed if Swinney was fired in the next three years.[25]

Under Swinney, Clemson had their fourth 10-win season in a row, making them one of only four schools to achieve the feat in the last four seasons.[26] The Tigers started the season ranked #16 but suffered early setbacks with losses to #13 Georgia and #1 Florida State.[27] However, with the emergence of freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Tigers only lost one more game to ACC Coastal Division Champion Georgia Tech. The regular season was highlighted with the finale against South Carolina in which Clemson broke a 5-game losing streak to the Gamecocks to win 35-17 in Death Valley.[28] Clemson received an invitation to play Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Dec. 29, 2014. Led by Clemson's #1 ranked defense in the nation,[29] the Tigers routed the Sooners 40-6, holding Oklahoma to 275 total yards and forcing five turnovers.[30] The Tigers finished 10-3 for the season and ranked 15th in both the AP and the Coaches Poll.[31]

Swinney's last three bowl wins have been over college programs that have all won national titles since 2000.[26]

Swinney's nickname was given to him as an infant by his parents when his then-18-month-old brother would try to enunciate "that boy" when referring to Swinney.[32] He married the former Kathleen Bassett in 1994 and has three sons. Swinney is a Christian.[33]

While in college at the University of Alabama, Swinney was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.[34]

But coach Dabo Swinney has no qualms about throwing Mitch Hyatt into the starting job. Hyatt, ranked No. 18 in the ESPN 300 for the class of 2015, enrolled early and competed with Battle in the spring. So at least the Tigers have an idea of what they ...

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney stepped up on Monday, joining Gary Pinkel in the call for Notre Dame to play a schedule that more closely resembles its fellow Power Five schools that are actually full members of Power Five conferences. Gary Pinkel said the ...

A week after Missouri coach Gary Pinkel spit some hot fire by stating that Notre Dame should have to join a conference in order to be eligible for the College Football Playoff, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is on board with Pinkel's suggestion, siding ...

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney will be competing in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Charity Challenge, which will air today starting at 3 p.m. eastern time. Coach Swinney has competed in the challenge the past few years and his partner, the same ...

Columbia, SC (WLTX) --- Both Steve Spurrier and Dabo Swinney have had plenty of chances to get their preseason message out. There have been SEC and ACC Media Days, trips to the ESPN set and of course, their respective media golf outings. Spurrier ...

PINEHURST, N.C. — Seven questions were posed to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney during his televised press conference in the main ballroom at Pinehurst Resort. His longest answer was reserved for the man who had to lose his job in order for ...

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney did a little golfing Wednesday, and afterward he updated the media on some key storylines facing the Tigers as fall camp nears. For one, expect kicker Ammon Lakip to “miss some time” after a drug-related arrest this ...

CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney has been fortunate, spending most of the past couple years watching reality live up to his relentlessly optimistic views. To the victor (42 wins in 4 years) goes such spoils. Rare is the college football coach who almost always ...

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